During the Knute Rockne football era, Notre Dame had several unofficial nicknames, among them the "Rovers", "Domers", and the "Ramblers".

[5] According to historian Murray Sperber, during the 1910s and 1920s, anti-Catholic and anti-Irish stereotypes and ethnic slurs were openly expressed against immigrants, and the press often referred to Notre Dame teams as "Catholics", "Papists", or "Dirty Irish".

University leadership wished to distance itself from such names and school publications referred to the team "the Gold and Blue" or the "Notre Damers".

[8] In the November 9th, 1912 edition of Scholastic, it is claimed that the moniker "Fighting Irishmen" was given by the president of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Corby served as chaplain of the Irish Brigade and granted general absolution to the troops in the midst of the battle.

This is commemorated in the painting "Absolution Under Fire," part of Notre Dame's permanent art collection.

Reporting on that game, Edward A. Batchelor wrote on the Detroit Free Press: "Eleven fighting Irishmen wrecked the Yost machine this afternoon.

[4] One theory associates the popularity of the nickname to the visit from future president of the Republic of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, who had been part of the 1916 Easter Rising and was imprisoned and sentenced to death.

Barnstorming the country, the future president of Ireland was welcomed as a hero at Notre Dame on October 15, 1919.

Accounts in Scholastic, a student publication, indicate that his visit tilted campus opinion in favor of the "Fighting Irish" moniker — though not completely.

De Valera planted a "tree of liberty" as a memorial of his visit — only to have it uprooted a week later and thrown in one of the campus lakes by a student "of Unionist persuasion.

"[17] It has been asserted by Notre Dame alumnus historian Todd Tucker (Class of 1990) that the moniker became official in large part as a way of honoring and appeasing the student body, after a confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan.

"[20] Notre Dame joined the Midwestern City Conference (now known as the Horizon League) for all sports except football, basketball and hockey in 1982.

The Irish are currently a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in all sports except for the following: According to men's basketball coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame strongly considered joining the Big Ten in 2003, with the decision not to proceed occurring at the "11th hour".

With eleven football championships acknowledged by the NCAA, over 900 all-time wins, seven Heisman Trophy winners, famous head coaches, a 73% winning percentage and the most consensus All-Americans of any school, Notre Dame football is one of the most storied programs both on the gridiron and college athletics in general.

Notre Dame played in arguably the greatest, although certainly not the most-watched (due to Notre Dame games' already having been broadcast nationally that season as many times as allowed, ABC had to relegate its broadcast to a regional one), college football game in history: the famous 10–10 tie against Michigan State at Spartan Stadium on November 19, 1966.

Notre Dame's only trip to the BCS National Championship Game was at the end of the 2012 season, where they suffered a 42–14 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Fighting Irish made the 4-team College Football Playoff twice, in the 2018 and 2020 seasons, failing to make the championship game both times.

Notre Dame won the 2015 ACC Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight only to fall to top-ranked Kentucky 68–66.

Notre Dame's women's basketball team is a perennial championship level program which has been consistently ranked in the top 5 in the country for the past 8 years, notching 8 consecutive 30+ win seasons.

The 2001 team was led by 6-foot-5 center Ruth Riley, a recent inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Notre Dame joined the Big Ten conference as sports affiliate member on July 1, 2017.

[25] The Notre Dame women's lacrosse team reached the NCAA semifinal round (Final Four) in 2006.

Notre Dame also ranks second in all-time title game appearances (8) behind North Carolina (23).

That same year, Petrucelli's squad, under the leadership of Cindy Daws, won the program's first national title, defeating Portland 1–0.

Waldrum's 2010 squad won the school's third national title, going 21-2-2 and posting 15 shutouts and became the lowest ranked team to do so, beating undefeated Stanford in a 1–0 decision.

[31] Notre Dame's rugby program has the support and commitment of the school and alumni, with an endowment fund rumored to be over $1 million.

The CRC is the highest profile college rugby competition in the United States, broadcast live on NBC each year.